Heart Disease, Cholesterol, & EOs- Part One

Butter cookies, gravy, and generous portions of rich meats....'tis the season for cholesterol, right? In Part 1 I will share some facts about the real cause of heart disease and Part 2 we will look at the role of essential oils to support healthy cholesterol levels.
The facts and information below was compiled in a booklet by Ronald Lawrence MD, PhD called 15 New Discoveries That Will STOP Heart Disease



FACT: 150 years ago heart disease was virtually unheard of. Today it is the #1 cause of death in America. It kills nearly 30% of us. In fact, it kills more women than all forms of cancer, chronic lung disease, pneumonia, AIDS, diabetes and accidents combined.

FACT 1 : "High cholesterol alone is NOT the primary cause of heart disease". -Dr. Joseph Mercola

C-reactive protein level is a stronger predictor of cardiovascular events than the LDL cholesterol level.-Paul Ridker, MD, Harvard Medical School

FACT 2: The real cause of heart disease is OXIDIZED cholesterol.

A 2005 University of San Diego study found that high cholesterol only modestly increased the risk of coronary artery disease. But patients with both high cholesterol and high oxidized cholesterol had SIXTEEN times higher risk.

Circulating levels of oxidized LDL are strongly associated with angiographically documented coronary artery disease, particularly in patients 60 years of age or younger. The New England Journal of Medicine

FACT 3 : Free radicals ( i. e., superoxide) in the blood cause oxidized cholesterol.

Feeding a diet spiked with oxidized cholesterol caused a 100% increase in fatty streak lesions in the aorta, according to studies at the University of California. Ilona Staprans, PhD. UC, San Francisco

FACT 4: The world's best-selling drugs for heart disease (statins) only treat high cholesterol and do little to prevent oxidized cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol without reducing oxidized cholesterol can be harmful to your health.

Cholesterol is essential for life. It is:

• The building block of hormones that control blood sugar and mineral balance
• essential for creating testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone
• part of every cell membrane in our body
• precursor to vitamin D
• an essential part of bile salts, required for digestion

Patients with chronic heart failure benefit from having high levels of cholesterol rather than low.

Researchers in Hull, UK followed 114 heart failure patients for at least 12 months. They found that for every point on decrease in serum cholesterol, there was a 36% increase in the risk of death in 3 years.

FACT 6: Some antioxidant whole foods are powerful medicines to prevent and treat heart disease.

NEWSWEEK, January 17th, 2005: "but powerful as statins are, a healthy dose of exercise and the right foods are more powerful still."-Howard LeWine, MD, Harvard School of Medicine

In the next post we will look at some of the most antioxidant substances on earth- essential oils, and which ones support heart health.

This tip is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.